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J H B. srnvnNsoN, JR, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. Lam-s Patent No. 72,932, dated December 31,1867.

, IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE or OIL-CLOTH.

TO ALL WHOM ITMAY CONCERN;

.Be it known that I', JOHN B, STEVENSON, Jr., of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsyl vania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Mode of Manufacturing Oil-Oloths-; and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear and exact description of thenature thereof, suflicie'nt to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to fully understand and.use the same. I

In the manufacture of oil-cloths heretofore, it has been found difiicultto produce an oil-cloth sufficientl-y flexible so as not to crack, crease, or break, on accidental folding, or otherwise. v These evils have resulted froui the brittle surface of the background and: the pattern, the colors of which being combined with linseed oil, at present employed, and applied to the canvas or cloth, after drying, are found to beef a gummy nature, due to the linseed oil, and readily crack, and thereby break and destroy the fabric, especially when it is laid on an uneven door, or accidentally turned up orfolded. I

Various-experiments have been made to producean oil-cloth equal in appearance to those now in use, but

with a surface less liable to crack and break, and at a much less expense. For this purpose it is necessary to substitute, for linseed oil, an oil possessing the same qualities, so as to allow the color to retain its brightness or brilliancy, causing the background to be well applied to the canvas, and produce a flexible or yielding surface, ready for the reception of the pattern. It is evident to every one engaged in printing fabrics of this nature, that the hard or brittle background has been objectionable in the extreme, but as no substitute has hitherto been found therefor, the oil-cloth. continues to be made with linseed oil. After a background has beenproduced with a flexible surface, and therefore but little liable tb crack,.it is necessary that the pattern afterwards applied should possess the same advantages. I Y i i In carrying out my invention, the canvas or cloth is'si'ze d with glue, hung or stretched 0n frames, and dried by heat or air,'as in ordinary cases. The background is then prepared by thoroughly combining with any suitable, color a sutlicient quantity of cotton-seed oil, or fifty per cent. of cotton seedoil and fifty per cent. of linseed oil, more or less, and applying the same to .the sized canvas or cloth, in several coats, and successivel dried. The linseed and cotton-seed oil should be wellboilerl to ether previous to admixture with the color.

I It will be found that the fabric thus prepared, will possess a peculiar soft and flexible surface, and presents the appearance of a homogeneous mass, and will take the colors of thepattern more readily than the harsh and brittle surface caused by the use of linseed oil.

' The colors for the pattern are also combined with cotton-seed oil, -or with cotton-seed oil and linseed oil,

in the proportion of fifty per cent, of each, more or less. The colors will readily dry, and then be found to have a bright, glossy, and elastic surface and nature, equal in appearance in every respect to those combined with linseed oil, but superior in their non-liability to cracker break. The oil I intendespecially to apply is known not to gum, and therefore possesses the advantages stated. I

I have also found from experience that canvasor cloth prepared with color and cotton-seed oil will efl'ectually resist dampness, and the oil-cloth may therefore lie in a damp cellar, storehouse, or'anyplace, and be scarcely affected by dampness or moisture; but where linseed oil has been employed in the manufacture of oilcloth,"those experienced in this art know that the fabric cannot be stowed in a dampplace without comm'en; cing to rot. I I

In the present state of the market, linseed oil commands one dollar and a quarter per gallon, while cottonseed oil commands but fifty cents per gallon. In oilcloth factories where at least a thousand gallons are consumed weekly, the saving by my process is from thirty to seventy-five percent,- and its employment is 4 therefore a great consideration.

In the above respects, I claim decided important advantages, and have overcome the great objections in the mode of producing oil-cloth, and at a much less expense. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I The mode of manufacturingbibcloth by the means substantially as described. To the above I have signed my name, this sixteenth day of November, 1867.

' JOHN B. STEVENSON, Ja;

Witnesses:

JOHN A. 'WIEDEBSHEIM, JOHN G. HARD'I G; 

